James L. Jones Apologizes for Jewish Joke

By Nathan Guttman April 26, 2010

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Apparently the criticism of National Security Advisor James L. Jones’ Jewish joke reached the White House.

On Monday General Jones issued a short statement clarifying his remarks and providing a written apology, provided to reporters by the White House press office:

I wish that I had not made this off the cuff joke at the top of my remarks, and I apologize to anyone who was offended by it. It also distracted from the larger message I carried that day: that the United States commitment to Israel’s security is sacrosanct.

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.